Kyle Galdeira  -  K-Zone
SID/Web Editor

kyleg@hawaiiwinterbaseball.com


C.C. You Later, Cleveland...Gamel Stays Put
Posted on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 02:00pm HAST

The sports media is all over today's trade between the Cleveland Indians and the Milwaukee Brewers which shipped reigning Cy Young Award winner C.C Sabathia to the land of cheese and Miller beer in exchange for a quartet of prospects.

Fortunately (In my opinion), one of those four prospects wasn't 2007 HWB MVP and Offensive Player of the Year, Mat Gamel (North Shore Honu). Sure, Cleveland wanted to scoop up Gamel as part of the package received for dishing one of baseball's most dominant starting pitchers, but they must still be satisfied with the young players they got in Matt LaPorta, Zach Jackson, Rob Bryson and the always interesting "player to be named later."

So where does Gamel fit into the Brew Crew's picture? With LaPorta now out of the way as far as moving up the ladder, Gamel-who will represent the Brewers in next week's All-Star Futures Game in New York-instantly becomes one of the organization's top commodities within the minor league system. The 22-year-old is tearing up Double-A pitching, and owns a .374 average to go with 31 doubles, six triples, 15 home runs and 75 RBIs in 87 games with the Huntsville Stars.

And, when you examine Milwaukee's lineup, both in its current state and looking ahead a few years, the only foreseeable holes to fill are at catcher, where Jason Kendall isn't getting any younger, and at the hot corner where aging veterans Bill Hall and Russell Branyan are doing their best as a platoon. Also, don't forget that slugger Ryan Braun was moved from third base to the outfield in order to create space for another young, power hitter--a role that could be filled at least part-time by Gamel as soon as next season.

It will be interesting to follow Milwaukee in the second half of the season, especially now that they trail the National League Central Division leading Chicago Cubs by just 3 1/2 games.

We shall C.C.



Posted under - Players | 7 comments


Comments

  1. C.C. Man said on 07/08/2008:
    C.C. cannot help the Brewers, he does not have the experience of a veteran pitcher. In three post-season series he is 1-2 with a 7.17 ERA. That is not a pitcher you want on your team when you are trying to get to the playoffs and just do well. But hey what do I know, I'm no GM.

  2. Kyle said on 07/09/2008:
    Good point, but remember, those numbers came as a pitcher with the inconsistent Indians' offense behind him. As we saw yesterday in his first Brewers win, Milwaukee can hit...and hit some more. That may be the difference in the postseason, if the team makes it there.

  3. lance said on 07/18/2008:
    thanks for the info on dexter fowler, I would have missed that.

  4. Kyle said on 07/18/2008:
    No problem, Lance. This is a great opportunity for Dexter, he's a class guy and he is one of tomorrow's five-tool stars. As soon as he calls me back I'll get some quotes and add them to the story...I'm currently finishing up a roundup of some Pacific Coast League guys in Triple-A, so stay tuned for that.

  5. Lance said on 07/21/2008:
    Sounds good! The Giants just picked up Darren Ford in a trade- if he makes it to AA I'll get to see him here in CT.

  6. Kyle said on 07/23/2008:
    I saw that...good move on the Giants' part to unload Durham I think. Did you see that Rick VandenHurk got the win today? I just posted the story, check it out when you have time.

  7. Lance said on 07/25/2008:
    I saw that- sweet! Schierholtz was added to the olympic team. Do you know if any hwb vets are on Japan's team?